Orchard House is a haven for its visitors and innkeepers

Jodi Melfi and Dean Lowry, who run the Orchard House Bed and Breakfast in Granville, enjoy a home cooked breakfast they offer their guests. Their food is locally sourced to ensure the freshest and best options.(Photo: Jessica Phelps/The Advocate)Buy Photo

GRANVILLE – As innkeepers, their talents complement each other. Jodi Melfi is the interior designer and marketer and her husband Dean Lowry is, well, everything else. Together they run Orchard House Bed & Breakfast, a classic 1850 Italianate homestead on 12 partially wooded acres.

“I'm a designer,” Melfi said. “What I do at the Orchard House is all about marketing and creating that guest experience, setting tables and arranging the flowers, included. Innkeeping, that's Dean's job.”

“What I actually do,” responded Lowry, “is cook, do laundry, clean rooms, do dishes…” The list went on, ending with, “and I do the majority of the desk work of reservations, wedding planning and finances.”

In other words, he added, “My official role is innkeeper.”

Dean Lowry, now 46, grew up in Redford, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He graduated from high school in 1987 and then Eastern Michigan University in 1992. He taught a pre-kindergarten class and then 6th grade science in Flint, Michigan, but was soon disillusioned with the job.

Ultimately, he switched to a computer tech position for 12 years in the Detroit area. Along the way he met Melfi on a computer dating site.

“I was trying to find true love in a 50 mile radius but it dawned on me that was kind of silly,” he said. “So I opened up the radius to the maximum setting and there she was. We dated for a year with one of us driving every weekend to Detroit and back.”

He and his daughter Helena moved to Granville in 2013 to be near Melfi.

Jodi Melfi grew up in Springfield Ohio, in “a very suburban neighborhood” near the Wittenberg University campus. She graduated from Springfield North High School and then spent a year in Europe where she attended The Kampen Academy of Visual Arts in The Netherlands.

Returning to the States, fluid in German, Dutch and French, she went to Wittenberg “kind of by default, and was soon pretty unhappy.” She moved to Columbus in the early 1990s to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Columbus College of Art & Design, and she’s been working in graphic design and marketing ever since. She now has Jodi Melfi Design in Granville in addition to the B&B.

“In the 90s,” Melfi recalled, “I was part of the design team that developed the concepts for Brio, Mitchell's Steak House, The Fish Market and The Ocean Club. I learned a ton about how important the details are to create that full, enjoyable atmosphere that allows guests to relax and enjoy themselves.”

She transferred her experience to “designing full environments” at the Orchard House. But first, the path to the B&B had its bumps.

Right after she and Lowry married in 2014, they returned from their honeymoon to find he had been laid off from his IT job. “It was rough,” Melfi said. “Then, I think he realized he wasn't truly happy at the end of the day.”

What made Lowry happy was baking, cooking and talking. “I enjoy getting to know people,” he said. “And I love food and to try different cultures and cuisines.”

“I wanted to see him happy,” Melfi added, “so I asked my friends and business associates, Don Jones and Andrew Kohn, if we could go out for a drink and talk about the ins and outs of B&B ownership. We totally didn't walk into the evening thinking to purchase their Orchard House. I'm not sure we even knew it was for sale. But by the next day, Dean was trying to figure out how to finance the idea.”

“Opportunity came along and I couldn't resist,” Lowry said.

Ever since, he’s been the one to oversee the business, which means it’s his job to keep everything running smoothly.

“The B&B was exactly what I needed and wanted,” Lowry concluded. “I'm in the best shape mentally, physically and spiritually than probably the last 15 years.”

About the Series

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they're unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.

For more info

Orchard House Bed & Breakfast is located at 4058 Columbus Road in Granville. For more information call 740-651-1850 or log on www.orchardhousegranville.com.